Hong Kong, Jan 4 (BUS): Asian stocks were flat on Tuesday after record highs on Wall Street on its first trading day of 2022, despite concerns that the widespread Omicron COVID-19 variant could halt the global economic recovery.
The MSCI gauge of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan is up 0.67% in the morning sessions.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 is up 1.15%, boosted by energy and mining stocks while Japan’s Nikkei 225 is up 1.25%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and China’s benchmark CSI300 Index opened 0.5% and 0.25% higher, respectively.
In a note on Tuesday, Mizuho Bank said: “With the start of 2022, markets seem to have kept the memories of 2021 and put Omicron in the background with an eye on Fed rate hikes leading to higher Treasury yields and a strengthening US dollar along with the continued recovery of stocks. “. According to Reuters.
Wall Street’s major indexes hit record highs at the close on Monday, even as coronavirus variant Omicron pushed COVID-19 cases to fresh peaks in the world’s largest economy.
John Milroy said: “Markets are more focused on potentially positive earnings numbers from the US in the fourth quarter. We firmly believe that the US is experiencing very tight labor market conditions and that will boost household incomes.” Ord Minute Consultant in Sydney.
“Investors are closely watching inflation and how the Fed might respond if it proves not temporary,” he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.68%, the S&P 500 rose 0.64%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.2%.
On Monday, Apple Inc became the first company to reach a stock market value of $3 trillion, while Tesla Inc rose more than 13.5% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly deliveries of its electric vehicles.
The S&P rose about 28% last year, pushing the MSCI 50-country stock index into its third consecutive year of double-digit gains.
Record US 10-year yields hit a six-week high of 1.6384%, as investors anticipate a series of interest rate hikes this year to combat rising inflation.
Commodity markets have also quickly returned to their swing after a nearly two-year resurgence to close out in 2021.
Brent oil rose 0.57% to nearly $79.43 a barrel on Tuesday, building on Monday’s gains, which were buoyed by supply shortages and hopes for a demand recovery in 2022, despite the expectation of OPEC+ production increase. US crude rose 0.34 percent to $76.34 a barrel.
Gold prices rebounded after dropping more than 1% on Monday as rising risks in equities put pressure on bullion. Spot gold was up 0.14% at $1,803.3 an ounce on Tuesday morning.
HF